TOM PETERKIN AND CHRIS MCCALL

Theresa May yesterday urged voters to support the Conservatives to build a “stronger, more united country” post-Brexit as the leaders of the UK political parties made their last ditch pleas for votes.

The Prime Minister asked for the support of the people ahead of the negotiations to leave the European Union as Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn went on a whistle-stop tour across the country.

Mr Corbyn began the day in Glasgow, where he said he would not do deals with other parties, and urged voters to back his vision for a fairer society.

He addressed a crowd of around 200 people in Buchanan Street, but he made no reference to the SNP or the prospect of a second independence referendum during a ten-minute stump speech, instead focusing his attack on Theresa May and the Conservatives.

“Our party is not doing deals, we’re not offering anything other than us, our manifesto, and our programme,” he said.

“This campaign is a choice. There has never been a clearer choice. The choice is: another five years of a Tory government underfunding services across the UK, including here in Scotland, or a Labour government that invests for all, all across Britain.

“We put forward a transformative manifesto which says the financial crisis of 2008-09 should not be paid for on the backs of the poorest and most vulnerable in our society. Austerity has to end. An investment economy must replace it. A whole sense of social justice must replace it.”

Mr Corbyn added that he did not want “the support of the super rich” and said he was proud the average campaign donation to his party was £22.

Mrs May returned to a common theme, claiming she was better placed to stand up for the UK as it prepares to leave the EU than Mr Corbyn.

Mrs May said: the “prize” of getting the Brexit deal right was to create a country based on meritocracy that is more prosperous and more secure.

In the final hours of the election campaign, the Prime Minister denied suggestions that she has failed to spell out to voters exactly what she would do on a raft of major policies areas, including how many pensioners will be hit by cuts to the winter fuel allowance.

On a visit to Nottingham, Mrs May also said her approach to tackling terrorism showed how different she was from Mr Corbyn.

She said: “There are challenges ahead. The Brexit negotiations, we need to get those right. Brexit is the basis of everything.

“We need to secure our economy for the future, we need to ensure we are getting more jobs, better paid jobs, more opportunities for young people in this country.

“We can do that. We can do that if we get the Brexit negotiations right.”

Mrs May has refused to set out how many pensioners will be hit by plans to axe winter fuel payments for wealthier pensioners or say if she plans to impose increases to National Insurance. But she dismissed suggestions she had not been clear with voters.

Following the terrorist attacks on Manchester and London, Mrs May claimed the UK would be more secure under her leadership.

“On the whole question of how our police should deal with terrorists on our streets – on Saturday night you saw an appalling attack in London. Within eight minutes our police had taken out those terrorists. I support the police shooting to kill terrorists. Jeremy Corbyn does not.”

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron claimed that a Tory landslide would only be prevented if people vote tactically.

He said: “As we seek to minimise Theresa May’s majority, then backing the Liberal Democrats is a powerful way that you can send a message that she does not have a blank cheque to bring in the dementia tax, cut the police and do the damage that she is going to do to our health service.”